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Democracy Now! correspondent and best-selling author Jeremy Scahill has won the The George Polk Book Award for his book”Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.” The judges said: “Scahill’s work exposed killings, human rights violations and misconduct by the firm’s personnel and revealed the U.S. government’s growing reliance on this 'shadow army.' His reporting and Congressional testimony helped propel legislation that would ban U.S. government security contracts with Blackwater and other private military companies.”